Valentine's Day and courtly love? Think again Chaucer, hello Zuckerberg
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So, here we are again folks - that wonderful time of year leading to Valentine’s Day. Instantly, images of heart shaped boxes filled with chocolate and random flashes of pink and red flutter into my mind. However, it has to be said, I am nearly twenty and I have yet to see (or receive) a heart-shaped box of any sort. Yet I am woefully aware of the amount of soppy wall posts I will see on the day, people announcing their undying love (and managing to get 7 or 8 ‘likes’) and return comments with way too many kisses on the end of it.
According to Wikipedia, "the day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.” How sweet, and perhaps, how vintage?
‘Vintage’ gets thrown around a lot nowadays, but do we still live in an age of brazen Romeos and starry-eyed Juliet’s? I think not, partly down to the life-force that is social media. I myself have sold my soul to Mark Zuckerberg and I post away my thoughts every now and again, knowing sadly that my connection with the real world dwindles. What was once a magical moment of excited neurones has been tragically watered down to mere ones and zeros.
0101010111110000111110001010000101011101000 - Maybe I just declared my love for someone?
It all comes down to how we communicate our feelings for each other, how we meet each other and how the roots of the most basic relationships (friendships, or more) take hold of the earth around them. In this online universe, we expose ourselves, and that is fine and dandy for getting people to know you. However, we see only what you want us to see. The 'remove tag' button is a particular favourite of mine.
Back in the day, people met (in real life). They chatted, maybe over a drink in a pub, and things developed from there. There was one phone in their world. Usually downstairs and the whole family used it. No instant anything. If you wanted to send a message - a letter or telegram would perhaps have sufficed, albeit arriving later than one would've liked. Now, in 2012?
1. See a person. For about five minutes
2. Add on Facebook/Twitter.

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